PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The Battle of Barking Creek 6 Sep 1939
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Old 6th Sep 2019, 12:20
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ICM
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Bishops Stortford, UK
Age: 82
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Asturias: I fear that you are referring to the Whitley crew of 10 Sqn that, on the night of 27/28 May 1940, accidentally bombed RAF Bassingbourn, believing it was the airfield at Schipol. They had suffered a severe lightning strike (as had another crew that diverted on account of a shock that had got to the pilot) on the outbound leg to targets in the Ruhr, and matters clearly went downhill from then on. A version of the story is in Max Hastings' "Bomber Command." This was a particularly egregious example of the navigation standards in the night bomber force that would be revealed in the Butt Report in mid-1941.
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